Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wondering how benificial they are compared to the 'reptisun 5.0' and if any of you have had any problems with them?.......

right now Im using a reptisun 5.o but im thinking if going with a mercury vapor one instead.....heat and uv in one...

any thoughts greatly apreciated

Thanks
Brad

We use Mercury Vapour on ALL our beardy enclosures. When we switched from flourescents two years ago, we saw an immediate improvement in their appearance, appetite and general stamina, as well as general growth (of course, all dragons grow at different rates, and at different ages, so the growth spurts could be purely co-incidental - in 10 different dragons)

In my opinion, they are worth every penny, and in the long term work out far better value than flourescents. They don't have to be replaced as often, they don't require the additional cost & overhead space of a second fixture, and you don't have to replace the regular incandescents that blow out every 3 weeks - because you don't need them any more.
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Axe
The Reptile Rooms

I prefer T-Rex Active UV Heat. They give off a little more heat and don't have to be quite as close as the Zoo Med Powersun.

They may cost a little more but they last a little over a year so it's better in the long run.

Good luck.
Joel R

When we started reading up on the MV bulbs, we originally went with the one and only (at the time) Active UVHeat.

Then when ZooMed & T-Rex came out with them, we did a lil reading up to compare costs & output, as well as just general info.

We heard a lot of reports that the T-Rex ones weren't that well assembled, the glass falling out of the metal thread fixture was the most common complaint we read of. I take it they've improved much since then?

Once we went with ZooMeds we haven't looked back, so we've not checked into T-Rex recently to see how they're doing, although we did pick one up a couple of months ago as the store didn't have any Powersuns left, and it blew out after 3 weeks, heh. Needless to say it was returned.

How many are you running? Do you find they stand up pretty well on the whole?
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Axe
The Reptile Rooms

I only have two going now. I had some other brand before, I don't remember what it was but it was in a yellow box? I just got the Active ones in Mar. and so far so good. I am watching someone's dragon and they brought over the Zoo Med one so that's how I know the heat is better in the T-Rex. As far as the UVB out put they put out, I haven't a clue. We could use an upto date chart for the MVB's that's for sure.
Anyone know of any?

Joel R

We actually bought a UV meter a few weeks ago to compare some bulbs ourselves, and just for our own peace of mind to check some of the older bulbs were still giving off the amounts the manufacturers claim

It turned out that the meter was a complete waste of money, and it was returned - it wasn't just a defective unit, they were all saying the same thing - so we're still on the hunt for one if it crops up.

As far as heat goes, I saw the 100Watts that Big Apple Herp sells, which is apparently their own brand. They had it on display last year at the Daytona show and I couldn't believe the heat coming off this thing.

Now, we have had a very accurate UVB Meter up to the Big Apple ones compared to ZooMed powersuns, and I can't remember the actual figures, but at the bulb, the BAH one puts off twice as much UVB as the powersun, however, probably due to bulb shape, or th type of glass, or even the tint/frosting inside the bulb, the ZooMed one outputs twice as much UVB as the BAH one at a distance of 24".

Both were in identically sized, shaped & finished domes, and were both given several hours to "warm up" - After you turn them on, it can take up to 30-45 minute for them to get up to full output strength.

But if we get hold of a decent UVB Meter, we'll certainly be testing out lots of bulbs. I know a couple of big fairly local breeders with plenty of different kinds of bulbs to compare
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Axe
The Reptile Rooms

n/p

.
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Axe
The Reptile Rooms

How much do they run? I know I could do a search but you seem to have the head start. What kind was it that sucked? Do you know of a good one?

???
????
LOL
Thanks.
Joel R

I honestly can't remember the make of the one we sent back, but it was just a cheap thing. For the price though, we figured we'd give it a try.

A friend of ours picked on up at Daytona last year for about 300 bucks. Not sure exactly who was selling it, but I'm sure you'll see 'em if you go this year.

I'll E-Mail my friend who got one last year and see if she can give me the make & model number - the price might've dropped by now.
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Axe
The Reptile Rooms

I've recently done some research on UVB meters and have found a few that would work for what you are trying to do. I wanted to get a meter to test the output of the different merc. vapor bulbs on the market and to test how long they really last. I just can't afford to buy one right now.

www.spectroline.com has a UVB/UVA meter that would work and it's a scientific grade meter. Should work well.

Also, www.vernier.com sells meters for scientific purposes. Some of the colleges in my area use the vernier meters in the science classes.

And I found www.safesun.com. It's a personal hand held UVB meter that is the cheapest I have found and probably unreliable. Hard to say.

Good luck and please keep us posted on your results.

Veronica
Beautiful Dragons

I'm sorry,, I'm having trouble finding the UV tester on www.spectroline.com can you please tell me where it is.

Thanks.
Joel R

http://www.spectroline.com/lab_digital_radiometers.html

Try the address above. It took me a while to find the digital radiometers on Spectoline's website too. The DM and DR Series radiometers will measure UVA, UVB, and UVC. Cool. The only thing that worries me is that they don't list any prices. I wonder where you can get a used one??? A lab, school....

Good luck,
Veronica

This is the solar meter that we used, a friend bought it. The people at the Green Iguana society recommended this brand, but a 6.2 which I can not find, I assume they stopped making that one.

The cost $179 now
Info on Solarmeter